Although we are well into 2013, Forbes decided to take a hindsight look at the ugliest cars of 2012. Any guesses?

A memorable automobile is a perfect synergy of engineering brilliance and graceful design, of course manufacturing comes to play here too, as does marketing. The secret ingredient is collaboration. In its absence, the end result radically deviates from its original concept. The outcome is a vehicle displaying poor aesthetics, if to be blunt, an ugly car!

Jason Fogelson of Forbes collaborated with experts in the automobile industry to produce a list of the ugliest vehicles sold in the United States for the 2012 model year.

Treat the following as a collection of individual opinions, you may or may not agree. After all, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, ugly to one may be high performance to the other.

Without further ado, and without any particular importance to order, here are 2012 ugliest cars:

Some of you readers might be surprised to discover the Smart Pure Coupe on the list. Apparently its small size is a complete misfit in the American automobile scene.

According to George Peterson, President and founder of Auto Pacific, the car â€œnever accomplished the flexibility of its original conceptâ€.

For Michelle Naranjo, managing editor of Autobytel.com, the Smart Pure Coupe â€œlook[s] like a toy at the bottom of the generic cereal box.â€ Oouch!

Photo Credit: [http://www.smartusa.com/_assets/models/pure_coupe_hero.jpg]
Next targeted is the Acura ZDX. â€œBut why?â€ screams the reader. Evan Gubernick, creative director of Antenna Magazine, blames ambitious design – â€œ[i]n an attempt to be both elegant and sporty, it is either.â€ Gubernick continues to throw the swords into the hearts of Acura lovers – â€œa very unfortunate car that sacrifices function for funkâ€.

Photo Credit: [http://cars-database.com/data_images/models/acura-zdx/acura-zdx-01.jpg]
Moving on, and these experts spare no abuse on the GMC Terrain. Naranjo considers this SUV â€œone of the ugliestâ€, â€œa landlocked beast incapable of budging off a sandbarâ€, and a â€œblock bunkerâ€.

For Peterson the GMC Terrain is only â€œmoderately uglyâ€ with an outdated design that belongs in the 1990s than 2012.

Photo Credit: [http://images.thecarconnection.com/med/gmc-denali_100385558_m.jpg]
Are the automotive designers responsible for the above eye sores? No, claims kind- worded gentleman, Gubernick. Beautiful cars result from a tight team working together and in collaboration, keeping the original concept always in mind. An aesthetic problem stems from a team not on the same page.

Gubernick then concludes: â€œwe reject what we do not know, so to call something â€˜uglyâ€™ may be more of a comment on our comfort with whatâ€™s next than with what we are actually seeing.â€ Very Philosophical!

Maybe the discussed vehicles are not so much as ugly as they are, as Gubernick pointed out, before their time? Perhaps we are not ready to accept such automobile aesthetics yet? What do you think?